WAWA, Pa. -- George Takei thought he caught convenience store retailer Wawa in an error.
On his Facebook page, the actor--"Sulu" on TV's Star Trek--posted an image of a Wawa coffee cup and sleeve with a seeming math error.
The cup reads, "Wawa customers have been enjoying our fresh products for over 100 years. Every cup of coffee is brewed with this commitment to quality and service. Thank you!"
The sleeve reads, "We opened our first store in 1964. Thanks to all of you, we're still smiling 50 years later."
Takei posted the image with the caption "From a fan. Because of Math."
But it turns out that the company is not math challenged. According to the recently published book The Wawa Way by former president and CEO Howard Stoeckel (with Bob Andelman), the company, which just celebrated the 50th anniversary of opening its first convenience store in 1964, began in 1803 as an iron foundry and began dairy farming in 1902. So customers have been "enjoying" its products (although not necessarily coffee) for more than a century, even if the c-stores have only been open for half of that time.
After learning this, Takei edited his post, pointing out that "the labels remain rather misleading."
Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa owns and operates a chain of more than 640 convenience stores (380 offering gasoline) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.